LSU sends out alert after armed robbery attempt on campus

BATON ROUGE - A campus wide text alert and email went out to students and faculty at LSU in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday after a suspect flashed a silver handgun at a victim on campus.

The alert stated an armed robbery was reported at Highland Road and Dalrymple Drive. That's one of the busiest intersections on campus. According to the university, the suspect took off and headed east and didn't manage to take anything from the victim.

Kira Dobson regularly exercises on campus, and was in shock to hear something happened in an area in which she never feels unsafe.

"It's 2017, it seems like it can happen at your front door nowadays," Dobson said. "Even in the nicest of places and you don't expect it to happen, it happens."

Others around campus today echoed those same sentiments.

"My wife and I have been concerned lately," Richard Ishikawa said. "We live in the Garden District so it's relatively close, and it just seems like things have been getting worse and worse."

Currently, LSU says it is reviewing surveillance cameras in hopes of getting more information about the suspect. In 2013, LSU showed us at least 600 cameras were on campus, and they are regularly monitored during events. The university has the ability to go back and review footage, and plans were in the works to add additional cameras there.

As people who regularly exercise on campus worry about what happened, they say they plan on taking extra precautions to stay safe.

"Buddy system, definitely don't come out here at night if that's what's going to happen," Dobson said. "Stick to day light and check behind me every now and then."